Former Wallabies legend Toutai Kefu “had his hand in his personal abdomen” after he was stabbed in a horrific apartment invasion that left him with a sliced liver, damaged ribs and bleeding profusely.
Kefu, his wife Rachel and two of their five children all suffered serious accidents after burglars returned to their Brisbane home to steal cars in August last year.
“He had his hand mostly in his own stomach,” Rachel told the Daily Telegraph in a lengthy interview, describing the harrowing ordeal she and her family endured.
Kefu, who earned 60 caps for Australia and is currently Tonga’s head coach, heard his wife scream after she went downstairs to test for a loud noise that woke her in the middle of the evening.
Rachel initially thought it might be a possum operating across the kitchen, but quickly found the truth was far more serious when confronted by two younger intruders armed with a cane knife and a pocket knife.
“They would just pull out their knives and they would usually say, ‘Give us the keys, give us the keys,'” she said.
“They kind of force me to walk backwards, so I back out and find myself over the corner where the toilet is, up to a wall because I couldn’t go any further.”
The Kefus were physically and mentally scarred from the terrible ordeal they had endured
Kefu’s wife Rachel (quite correct) may have misplaced her arm in the incident, while Madison (second from left) wanted 15 stitches after being stabbed in her hand.
“After that I started screaming. And so they say, “Shut up, shut up, or we’ll kill you.”
In the meantime, Kefu had reached the bottom and intervened.
“They noticed they usually backed off a bit and I jumped in front of Rach, they were usually kind of a lunge, maybe to scare me,” he added.
“We retired together again, me and Rach. I mentioned, “There’s the front door, guys. Walk! I did not say anything. You go”.’
Former World Cup winner Australia No 8 was attacked at his Brisbane home
When Rachel tried to frighten the intruders with a knife, the cane knife sliced her arm almost to the bone, leaving her husband alone to fight off the attackers until their eldest son, Joshua, arrived at the scene.
“I used to be so happy with him. He comes down the stairs and straight in,” said Kefu.
Like his mother and father, the 21-year-old was also stabbed by the intruders leaving him with 4 separate wounds demanding a mixed 50 stitches.
18-year-old Madison also wanted 15 stitches after being stabbed in her hand, but the damage could have been far worse because the knife narrowly missed all of the main arteries and tendons.
Police were investigating the theft, which took place at Kefu’s Brisbane home in August
The two intruders were quickly caught and have since been arrested
Rachel’s damage had been far worse because the nerves, tendons, and ligaments in her left arm had all been severed.
Doctors told her the bone stopped the stick knife’s blade, but she might have misplaced her arm if the intruders hit her with extra pressure, and now faces another 5 months of deprivation on top of the seven she had has already gone through.
“The worst wound was my spouse’s, the spot they reduced to the bone and severed all the tendons and nerves,” Kefu told Sportsmail in October.
“I sustained a cut up liver and my son almost had his lung pierced by the machete, but he’s fine.”
Kefu admitted he didn’t even realize the seriousness of his accidents while defending his spouse
The former Wallabies legend admitted he didn’t even realize the severity of his damage as he lunged at the invaders.
“We went into attack mode,” he said.
“We are proud individuals – we will stand up for ourselves. I didn’t even realize I was stabbed until the whole ordeal was over. I used to bleed profusely.
After we got ready for the police and ambulance, I sat on the floor and pressed my wound with a towel, but the bleeding just wouldn’t stop. ‘
